The present proposal requests support for an optical sectioning and extended 3-dimensional reconstruction microscopy system to support life sciences research at Purdue University. This installation is to consist of a confocal scanning laser microscope integrated with a complementary morphometry/image analysis soft- and hardware package. The system will be organized as a separately housed independent facility, the Purdue University Optical Sectioning and 3-D Reconstruction Laboratory. In addition to operating as a self- contained stand-alone laboratory, the proposed facility will also be linked directly, by an existing campus computer network, to the Purdue University Computing Center, to all University users' laboratories that are on the network, and, indeed, to other research facilities nation-wide through the same computer network. The proposed system will serve an extensive users group of 16 investigators (as well as their research associates and students) representing 7 different departments at Purdue and directing a very significant amount of NIH supported research (over $3 million for the current year). As a group, these users have extensive experience with, and rely heavily on, standard epi-fluorescence microscopy; they also have extended needs for 3-D reconstruction capabilities in their microscopy. The requested equipment will enhance and extend these research programs through the application of the revolutionary new developments in optical sectioning, light microscopic resolution, 3-D imaging and reconstruction, as well as morphometry that are predicated on the confocal microscopic technology and on recent advances in computer software. By making these new advances in light microscopy for structural analyses available to users on the Purdue University campus, the Optical Sectioning and 3-D Reconstruction Laboratory will also stimulate the development of new research opportunities.